One of the most important wooden pieces in the collection, this very old figure has significant evidence of age and use consistent with the ritual utilty the piece has within its tribal cultural context. This piece is from the central Igbo region and represents Ugonachonma (translated as “The Eagle Seeks Out Beauty”). It possesses a sophisticated, attractive coiffure (with reflective mirrored-glass inserts common to young women of marrying age from wealthy families) and a long neck (considered a feature of a beautiful young woman), with scarification (also for beauty). The white pigment on the legs is thought to “exaggerate the Igbo preference for light-colored skin and evokes the practice of washing dark skin with a chalky solution to create a contrasting ground for indigo uli patterns.”

Following in the background given on this piece, “Ugonachonma served as centerpieces for largely secular-age grade dances”. Young, beautiful maidens are thought to be associated with eagles, as the maidens are praised as “eagle’s kola” after the prized kola nut shared at Igbo ceremonies (Visona, A History of Art In Africa, p. 289).

The Igbo occupy the present east central state of Nigeria and parts of the present mid-western state. The Igbo speak a common language, but with different dialects. Most Igbo traditionally live in scattered villages, which form the basic social units, cosmologically, they believe in the existence of the Supreme Being whom they call Chuku or Chineke. There are other minor deities under him, Anyanwu (The Sun), Iwa (The Sky) Ale (The Earth). Ale, the most important minor deity, is connected with ancestors-Noiche and Ajoku, the divinity associated with Yams. The ancestors usually appear as masked dancers (Mmuo) who dance during festivals and funerals (Ref: Lois Woods Museum).

This head crest is an enigma. The carving style, especially the delicate human face, suggests that it was made by the Igbo, but the cap-style headdress is not part of the Igbo masking tradition. It most likely comes from southern Igbo territory, where influence from the Idoma (the Igbo’s southern neighbors) would be most prevalent. The Idoma carve crest masks (similar to this piece, with distinctly different facial features) called Eku, that combine the elements of many animals with human features. An important related piece from the Igbo was published in "Nigerian Art: The Meneghelli Collection."

These ntekpe figures were originally part of a family shrine that honored one of the many Igbo deities. Most Igbo households would erect at least one such shrine, usually near the entrance to the Home. The ntekpe figures were considered "children of the shrine" and its deity. Their function was to protect the inhabitants of the house and to help when needed.

The northeastern area has a divination system and shrine complex quite distinct from those of other Igbo areas. Many family compounds have at least one shrine containing ceramic vessels and figures. The shrines are placed at compound entrances, outside houses, in domestic gardens, as well as in small sheds of their own. The Tekpe, are considered "children" of the shrine and its deity, and are there to help and protect it.

Tekpe bowls are depicted with great variety. Some show human faces with an open mouth, others depict animals and miniature figures. This bowl shows two entwined snakes covering the lid, under which magical substances would have been placed (Ref: Cole, "Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos"; Neyt, "The Arts of the Benue"; Schaedler, "Earth and Ore&quot.

This piece was thermoluminescence tested by Laboratory Ralf Kotalla (Germany), and found to be authentic, having been fired (created) between 1876 and 1920 A.D.

agbogho mmwo, of hollowed helmet-like form, the stylized facial features including a pierced, diamond-shaped mouth beneath the sharp nose bisectingthe slit eyes and decorated with linear and circular scarification, the whole surmounted by a complex openwork coiffure comprised of three arching bandspunctuated by circular and cylindrical motifs; varied aged surface with areas of red, white, black and blue pigment.

This mask represents numerous attributes of the ideal of female beauty among the Igbo. Worn each year for 'The Fame of Maidens' ceremony, it isintended to instruct youths in attitudes necessary for moral as well as physical beauty. Physically, height and litheness, good posture, a straight nose andsmall mouth are all ideals. These traits are physical indices to the moral ideals of purity, obedience, good character and generosity (Cole and Aniakor1982: 121).

African art and masks of the Igbo (Ibo) people of Nigeria. This hand-carved wooden mask from the Igbo people is 14 inches tall, and 8.75 inches wide.

Mask 25 18.5"high x 13"wide x 9"deep

Acali mask

Igbo people, Afikpo District, Nigeria

11.5 inches, wood, pigment and plant fiber

This is a face mask that is commonly used in okumkpa performances in the Igbo town of Afikpo and surrounding villages in southeastern Nigeria. Okumkpa is a theater tradition staged after the Dry Season Festival. Among the Afikpo Igbo, putting on a mask transforms the performer into a spirit (mma). Such masks are generally associated with a deity of the secret society called egbele, but the spirit of the deity is not perceived as residing in the mask but as remaining in the sacred bush--the mma is viewed as a manifestation of it. Ottenberg (1975: 18-19) informs us that the acali mask is generally worn by the youngest players in okumkpa performances and that it is one of the least common Afikpo masks. It does not appear to have been used.

Uli is an expression of the people’s capacity for creative design, which is firmly rooted in their myths and their experience of life in the past, present and future. At its best, it is an expression of their synthetic present, the epic of their search for a new order in the contemporary world. It is my traditional art style, which I have fallen in love with all over again and it is a privilege to share uli with you in my works. It has been shown that the knowledge of uli motifs and symbols and their application enables one to identify the traditional Igbo artifacts, giving validity to the people’s aesthetic intelligence and judgment. This culture is one of the first known cultures of the world in the recorded archeologically facts to have done bronze casting. (Igboukwu bronze).

Uli symbols may be said to show graphically how the organic forms grow outwards from the core of those elements to point, line, triangle, square and circle that are universal to the concentric circle at the periphery, which contains reflections of everyday world as seen by the artists. Just as the inner circle reflects the uncommon reality or ritual reality of the cultural existence, so the outer circle is in contact with the human and ecological reality, which it expresses. Artistic activities at Enugu formed part of the early post-1960 independence developments in the country. There was the growing local and international popularity of Nigerian novelists, dramatists, poets, literary critics, architects, artists, and musicians, and scholars. Interesting collaborations took place among those in the literary performing, and visual arts, particularly in southern Nigeria. The efforts and artistic lives of these minds sowed a flourishing seed for an uncommon global harvest. I give thanks to God for these great minds, your outstanding contributions will not be forgotten.

Uli creations relied heavily on drawing skills whose content is based largely on Igbo culture, particularly female body and wall painting called uli and on Igbo tales, ceremonies, and beliefs. The revival of interest in uli through contemporary art had begun with Uche Okeke in the 1960s, when Nigeria's independence produced a growing sense of freedom from colonial restraints on cultural tradition. It fully developed among teachers and students in the 1970s at the University in Nsukka and was linked to renewed interest in Igbo culture after the destructive Biafran War.

Traditional uli motifs, now rarely painted on human bodies or walls, have a strong linear, often curvilinear, quality. The art makes use of contrasts between positive and negative space, its images at times appearing as sky constellations. Uli’s lyrical qualities express harmony and brevity. It is art style that has often been created in freedom and spontaneity. “Uli is a pride heritage".

Uli motifs generally refer to images of everyday Igbo life, farm and cooking tools, pots, plants, birds, animals, the sun, the moon, and the kola nut, though some are pure design. For ceremonial occasions and important events, skilled Igbo female artists painted uli to add beauty to the human body and the walls of buildings and compounds. Uli has made her way in modern social settings; on sculptural surfaces and on paper, board, and canvas, framed and hung on walls in homes, institutions, and galleries of the world. Magic of Uli Lines, which is an extended dot or a moving point, has very many possibilities, particularly, the quickly drawn one. My drawing explores the evocative and lyrical possibilities of line and derives from Uli. The Uli artist works spontaneously whether on the human body or the wall.

Shrine Object Uvo. Ibo, Nigeria. 19th Century. This is where primitive art meets modern abstraction. The North West IBO people create these shrine objects called Uvo; related to Ikenga, but Uvo are extremely rare. The finely carved head that sits on this M like design is very expressive. This design could also be looked at as a surreal stylized human body. Carved from hardwood with an encrusted surface from years of sacrifices; this is a truly magnificent Nigerian sculpture.This object stands 9 inches tall and 12 inches long.